Although the cello and its predecessors, such as the viola da gamba, were involved in chamber music for many centuries, the instrument was not used extensively as a soloist before the nineteenth century. There were plenty of compositions for the violin with keyboard accompaniment, but the idea of a sonata for the cello really begins with Beethoven. In many ways he was responsible for developing the idea of providing the cello with its own special repertory instead of just using it in ensemble playing. His five Cello Sonatas range across seventeen years of his life from his mid-twenties to maturity and are among the most important for the cello over the last two hundred years.

Already much acclaimed as a piano virtuoso, Beethoven visited a number of cities in 1796 including Berlin. Here King Frederick Wilhelm II held a very musical court, being a fine cellist himself. He also employed the noted player Jean-Louis Duport, whose talents greatly impressed Beethoven, inspiring him to create a remarkable pair of cello sonatas, full of virtuoso display and technical difficulties. He dedicated them to Duport and His Majesty, greatly impressed, presented the composer with a gold snuffbox filled with Louis d’Or coins. The works were published the following year, 1797, in Vienna by Artaria.

Variations played a significant role in Beethoven’s output, he composed over sixty works in variation form, mostly for piano. Some were brief pieces as gifts to friends or as exercises, others were of considerable importance such as the great Diabelli Piano Variations written between 1819 and 1823. Of his three sets for cello and piano only one was published in his lifetime (Opus 66), the others were not issued so they carry a “Work without Opus Number” or WoO designation. This set, therefore, contains all the works Beethoven wrote for cello and piano.